The opposition’s High Negotiation Committee said that it was first time the HNC delegation to Geneva talks discussed with the UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura in “an acceptable depth” the issues of the future of Syria, political transition, and other issues set out in the Geneva Communiqué of 2012.

Head of the HNC’s delegation to Geneva Nasr Hariri said: “We agreed with the UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on a provisional date for the next round of negotiations. Today we further discussed the issue of political transition and ways to enforce international resolutions and the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 which call for achieving a political transition."

Speaking at a press conference on Friday at the conclusion of the fourth round of negotiations that began in Geneva on February 23, Hariri said: “We are closing this round without a clear result ... but I can say this time was more positive.” He stressed that the HNC will always be “ready to engage seriously in negotiations and to resume it."

With regard to the fight against terrorism in Syria, Hariri said: "In my country there are militias and mercenaries; you can see their faces; you know their names; you can see their knives; and hear their sectarian chants. They are killing children and slaughtering Syrians just like ISIS is doing, driven by purely sectarian motives.”

Hariri reiterated the opposition’s commitment to fighting terrorism. “We are committed to fighting all forms of terrorism, including most notably the terrorism being practiced by Bashar Al-Assad, the militias of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Hezbollah Militias, ISIS, and AlQaeda. Our commitment is being translated into deeds, not just words, as is evidenced by the battlefields and the numbers of fallen heroes."

The fight against terror requires immense, serious, and coordinated international efforts, Hariri stressed. He added that the Free Syrian Army is the real partner in the fight against all terrorist groups.

Hariri said that until the next round of talks in Geneva, the HNC will continue to hold extensive consultations with de Mistura about political transition as this creates the appropriate climate to discuss other issues. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

Members of the Syrian Coalition and the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) on Friday held a sit-in front of the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to express support for the Syrian people's rights and demands to regain freedom and dignity.

The sit-in was organized by "Syrian Women for Democracy" on the sidelines of the fourth round of Geneva negotiations. Participants in the sit-in stressed that the negotiations must seek to reach political transition in Syria in line with international resolutions, particularly UN Security Council resolutions 2118 and 2254.

Participants held photos showing the crimes being committed by the Assad regime and its allied Iranian militias and placards bearing slogans expressing the values ​​and principles of the revolution.

They called on the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards the protection of Syrian civilians through stopping the systematic bombardment of residential areas and medical facilities.

The first round of the Geneva 4 negotiations 4 concluded on Friday, with the HNC announcing that the talks included in-depth discussions on the political transition through the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

The General Secretariat of the Syrian National Council (KNC) condemned the repressive practices of the militias of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) against its leadership and members.

Masked gunmen belonging to the PYD militia kidnapped members of the KNC and its affiliated parties in the areas controlled by the PYD militias in the town of Qamishli in the Hasaka province on Friday. Those abducted included Mohammed Ibrahim, member of the political bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Azad Abdul Rahman, member of the regional committee. The gunmen also set the offices of the party on fire.

The Secretariat stressed that those practices and policies are detrimental to the Kurdish cause as they violate to the values ​​of freedom and democracy. It pointed that the PYD is seeking to silence the voice of all other political Kurdish parties, using oppression and arbitrary detention against whoever shows the slightest form of dissent.

The Secretariat added that the reckless behavior of the PYD supporters is evidently a result of its failures on the diplomatic, political, and military levels.

The Secretariat called upon all Kurdish forces and the international community to exert pressure on the PYD to release all political prisoners from its jails and stop its repressive practices and intimidation against the leadership and members of the KNC.

The Secretariat held the PYD militias fully responsibility for the consequences of these irresponsible practices. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)